Railway-crossing guard



April 14, 1925.

E. GIBSON RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD Filed Aug. 21 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet- 1 P f "I April 14, 1925. 1,533,850

E. GIBSON RAfrLwAY cnossme GUARD Filed Aug. 21, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W li am abtocweq April 14, 1925'.

E. GIBSON RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD Filed Aug. 21

1922 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

EDGAR GIBSON, OF BIG TIMBER, MONTANA.

RAILWAY-GRQSSING GUARD.

Application filed August 21, 1922. Serial No. 583,432.

To all whom it may concern. 1

Be it known that I, EDGAR GIBSON, a citizen of the United States, residing. at Big Timber, county of Sweet Grass, and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossing Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to guards for use at railway crossings, the primary object of the invention being to provide a guard at the sides of the tracksoperating automatically to obstruct a roadway or path crossing the track automatically upon the approach of a train, and which, in the accomplishment of this result, embodies a simplified improved mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guard of the character and for the purposes stated wherein, when the train or car reaches a certain predetermined point the guard will open the railway crossing to vehicular traffic.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a guard mechanism of the character stated involving the use of compressed air in its mechanism, and which is featured by the lack of complicated and expensive machinery.

With these objects in view together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all as will be described more fully hereinafter, illustrated in the drawings forming a part of this specification, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view, parts broken away, of a conventional railway track, having associated therewith one form of guard mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially upon line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4: is a diagrammatic view of the railway track and the guard operating mechanism showing more in detail the mechanism for operating the guard;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged central sectional view, through one of the valves employed in carrying out the invention;

Fig. 6 is a central vertical sectional view taken through one of the guard controlling cylinders; i V

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing one means whereby the guard may be connected to its base;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a slight modification of the invention; and,

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken through the railway roadbed and part of the guard controlling mechanism shown in Fig. 8.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the rails of the track are indicated at 10 and the supporting ties therefor at 11. Upon the outer sides of the outermost rails of the track at a vehicular crossing intersection, base members 12 are provided, which base members, in the presentinstance, are shown as comprising beams firmly embedded in the ground and prefer ably rigidly secured to the ties of the trackway and disposed parallel to the rails of the track. These beams are of a length substantially equal to or greater than the breadth of the crossing.

The guards or gates for the crossing are indicated generally at 13, and constitute planks, beams, or gates of any preferred construction, preferably of a length corresponding to the base beams 12. One of these guards is hingedly connected to each base 12, and capable of swinging thereon. To this end, the base is provided throughout its length and at spaced intervals with connecting members 14, to which are pivoted,

the inner ends of rods 15, telescopically receiving the sleeves or tubes 16, hingedly connected at their outerends as at 17 to the guards 13. This arrangement not only permits of the guards swinging upwardly'to substantially vertical position, but also of changing the distance between the base and guard,'and also allows said guards to swing downwardly adjacent and parallel to the trackway to rest upon the ground.

The mechanism employed in the preferred embodiment of the invention for controlling the movements of the guards 13 may be of the fluid pressure ope ated type and is here shown as comprising a pair of chambers 18 disposed one at each side of the vehicular crossover and underlying the roadbed of the track. Each chamber is provided at its opposite end with upstanding chambers 19 in communication at the lower ends with chambers 18, and the chambers 19 are hermetically sealed at their upper ends. The chann bers 19 protrude slightly above the ground, and each is in communication with a cylinder 20 secured and disposed upon the exterior of the upstanding chambers. Each cylinder is provided with a passage 21 es tablishing communication between its chamber 19 and the lower part of the cylinder, and each of the cylinders is equipped with a piston 22. The piston of each cylinder is provided with a bleed opening or port to permit of a slow seepag of air from the lower to the upper side of the piston. Each of these pistons is connected with the lower end of a piston rod 2%, the upper or outer end of which is pivotally connected as at 25 with the adjacent end or the uard 13.

It is apparent :trom this construction that as air is admitted through passages 21 of the cylinders 20 to the lower portions thereof, the pistons 22 will be forced up wardlyin the said cylinders, and this movement causes the gates or guards 13 to swing upwardly to substantially'uprig it posit on. As the air pressure in chambers 19 18 relieved, the compressed air beneath the pistons will be enabled, by means ot the bleed openings to slowly pass to the upper .110 sides of the pistons, whereby the gates or guards 13 will automatically lower and as sume inoperative or open position.

The means employed for supplying compressed air to the chambers 18 and 19 for operation of these guards includes, in this instance, an electric motor indicated at 26 and positioned at any suitable point. This motor drives a pump indicated conventionally at 27 for supplying the air to the feed pipe or conduit The opposite sidesor" the motor 26 are connected to the opposing rails of the track 10 by means of conductors 29 and 30, a battery indicated at 31 being included in this cir t. it will be noted, particularly with re rence to of the drawing, that the rails of the track at dis tances beyond the vehicular crossover con tain blocks of insulation indicated at 32, which blocks will be positioned at such points in advance of the crossover as will.

enable the motor and compressed air apparatus to operate the gates to raise them to vertical position before the oncoming train reaches the crossing. It will be understood, of course, that immediately upon the pas sage of the wheels of the train over the blocks of insulation, the circuit will be closed through the motor which will then operate the pump 27, while as soon as the last wheels of the train pass out of the block, the motor circuit will. be de-energized, and the pump 27 will cease to operate, whereupon the gates will assume a horizontal or lowered position, as above described.

Each of the chambers 18 is provided with a pipe 32 which pipes are connected with the main feed pipe 28 of the pump 27. Each of the upstanding chambers 19 has disposed therein a valve shown in section in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the valve being connected with the air supply pipe 32 at the nipple end indicated at 33. The valve casing at its nipple end is provided with a relatively large chamber 34, within which siioes a piston35 controlled by the pressure of air entering the nipple 33, and the rod 86 of this piston passes longitudinally through the casing 3'? of the valve, into a smaller bore therein. A stem 38 projects inwardly from the inner extremity of the rod 36 and is encircled by an expansion spring 39, which bears against the inner end of rodll'l and tends normally to maintain the piston in its forward or inoperative position. The rod has an opening can tending inwardly -from the piston end 35, said opening being indicated at 40, and communicating with an angularly disposed passage ll, extending oil to the side of the said rod. This passage is adapted to register with a port 42 in the valve casing 37 when the piston 35 has reached its inward limit.

The construction herein illustrated requires rotary as well as longitudinal movement of the rod 36 before the passages 41 and 12 register with one another. To this end, the outer surface of the rod 36 is provided with a longitudinally disposed curved slot 13, in which engages the inner end of a pin or stud 4st secured to the casing. The pin and slot arrangement is such that as rearward sliding movement is given to the rod 36%, the latter will be caused to rotate so that when it has reached its full rearward limit the ports 41 and 42 will be in re istration. and air will be permitted to PtlSS'flOl'H chamber 34: through the passages 40, etland 42, to the chambers 19, thus main taining air pressure in the said chambers.

The opposite end of the valve casing 37 is provided with a chamber 45, to which air is admitted from the exterior of the valve in chamber 19 through the ports 46. The chamber 45 is at times in communication with a similar chamber 48 in the casing, this connection being normally closed by a valve indicated at d9. The stem 50 of valve 19 is slidably arranged in the adjacent end of the valve casing, and encircled by an expansion spring 51 bearing against the said valve and normally holding the same in closed position upon its seat. The chamber 48 has leading thereto an angularly disposed passage 52, with which is connected a'lead or pipe 53 to supply air under pressure to the port 21 of the adjacent guard controlling cylinder 20.

The inner extremities of the valve stems 3S and meet in the chamber 48. lhese stems, which are of equal diameter and axially aligned, are cut away as indicated at These cut away portions of the stems are so arranged or disposed that normally the extreme ends of the said stems are engaged with each other, and at this time, waive 45) will be seated or in closed position, while piston will be at the limit of its outward or forward movement. When pressure is admitted to chamber 3st through port or nipple 33, the piston 353 will be caused to move forwardly, whereupon valve 49 will immedi-' ately be lifted from its seat so that communication will be established between air chan her to and chamber 4:8, whereupon pressure is admitted to cylinder 20 through pipe 53 and port 21. During this inward movement of the piston 35, rotary movement is being imparted thereto by the pin and slot arrangement 1% and a l above described, so that the inner extremity of stem 38 is also moving in rotary direction. lls soon as the piston 85 has reached its inner limit, the gap or cut away portion at the inner end of stem 38 will be turned so as to receive the adjacent end of stem 50, whereupon the latter is allowed under impulse of spring 51, to close the valve t9. This action cuts off the air supply from chamber li; to cylinder 20, and the gates or guards controlled by the pistons therein will be allowed to assume normal or open position by the slow passage of the air through the bleed port 23 and around the piston rod 84:, which is not packed, to the outer atmosphere. The piston 35 will remain at its inner limit of travel so that as the motor 26 is energized, during this time, air will be supplied to the chamber 19. Immediately upon the passage of the last wheels of the train beyond the lock, the motor circuit will be de -energized and the pump 27 will cease to function, and the air pressure in pipe 28 being thus relieved, the spring 39 will force piston 35 and its associated mechanism to normal or inoperative position. Rotary movement of the valve stem 50, suflicient to permit of stem 38 moving back and assuming normal or said position, will be permitted by the spring 51, but the said spring will return the said stem to substantally the position shown in Fig. 5 upon disengagement by the end of the stem 38, and ready at all times for proper operation.

In Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawing there is shown a slight modification of the invention, wherein the compressed air mechanism is dispensed with and an electificinotor is provided for the gate or guard at each side of the railway track.

In this form of the invention, the motor,

indicated at 60, is secured to a housing or post 61 adjacent the end of the gate and the shaft of the motor is provided with a spur gear or pinion 62 in engagement with the teeth of the arcuate rack 63 carried by the gate. This rack and pinion arrangenent is such that when the motor is energized the pinion will be caused to drive the raclr so as to swing the gate or guard to upstanding position. T he shaft of the motor, which passes through the housing 61, is provided with a pulley or drum indicated at (54:, the said, drum being disposed wholly within the housing. 'ilhis drum has secured thereto one end of a cable (55, while a. lower end of the cable connnunicates with a weight 66 sutliciently heavy to move the gate or guard and its associated mechanism back to normal position when the motor has become (ls-energized.

The wiring mechanism controlling the operation of the motor 60 of the guards includes the conductors 70 and 71; said conductors connecting the opposite ends of the motors as shown. One of these conductors has arranged therein a battery indicated at 72, while the other conductor is equipped with a normally open switch 73. This switch is closed at certain times by an electromagnet indicated at '74; the latter being connect ed as by means of conductors 75 and 76 with the opposing rails of the track. A battery 7 7 is connected in one of these conductors.

From this latter construction it is apparent that when a train enters the block etween the insulators 32, as above described, the circuit through the magnet 74 will be closed and as the latter is energized the switch 78 will operate to close the circuit through the several motors 60. The gate op erating mechanism therefore at once hecomes active, and the gates are moved to proper upstanding position. When the train has passed out of the block, the motor circuit will be de-energized and the weights 66 will move the gates back to horizontal or open position.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided gate or guard mechanism by extremely simple construction, which is featured by the lack of complicated mechanism, which can not readily become inoperative or disordered, which has its several parts so constructed and assembled as to minimize the opportunity for wear or breakage, which may be installed and maintained at comparatively low cost, and which will prove highly practical and efficient in use. 7

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be re quired by the accompanying claims.

Wha t I claim is:

l. In a crossing guard for *a-ilWa-y tracks, a gate hingedly moumed beside the track; a chamber; a cylinder haying a piston therein, said piston being connected to said gate; means controlled by the presence of a car upon the track for supplying fluid under pressure to said chamber; and means for controlling the passage of fluid pressure from said chamber to said cylinder.

In a crossing guard for railway tracks a gate pivotally mounted beside the track; a. chamber; a cylinder mounted on said cham ber; 21 single acting piston in said cylinder, connected to said gate; car controlled means ips-3,850

for supplying fluid underpressure to said chan'iber; and a fluid pressure actuated valve "for controlling the passage of fluid pressure from said chamber to said-cylinder.

3. In a crossing guard for railway tracks, 'a gate pivotally mounted beside the-track; a

chamber; a cylinder mounted on said. chamber; a single acting piston in said cylinder, connected to said gate; car controlled means for supplyingfluid under pressure to said chamber; and a fluid pressure actuated Valve for controlling the passage of fluid pressure from said supply means to said chambcn and from said chamber to said cylinder.

EDGAR GIBSON. 

